Media with questions about these Marines can call the 2nd Marine Division
Public Affairs Office at 910-451-9033.
Fulton Marine died doing what he lovedBy KEITH PARADISE

Steven Szwydek seemed born to be a United States
Marine.

His mother, Nancy Szwydek said looking at pictures
of her son throughout his life is like watching an evolution from a young
boy with toy guns and camouflage pajamas to a young man with the real articles.

The 20-year-old Lance Corporal from Warfordsburg
died doing the only thing he ever wanted to do last week. Szwydek was killed
along with two other Marines by a roadside bomb during Thursday combat
in Iraq, according to the Department of Defense. He is the second Fulton
County man to die since combat began.

Szwydek was serving in the Weapons Company
Second Battalion, Second Marine Regimental Combat Team Eight, Second Marine
Division based out of Camp Lejeune, North Carolina. He was awarded the
Purple Heart for wounds received in battle as well as the Combat Action
Ribbon, the Iraqi Campaign Medal, the Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary
Medal and Service Medal, the Sea Service Deployment Ribbon and the National
Defense Service Medal.

Szwydek was remembered as a young man who was
fascinated with the military and history. Nancy Szwydek said her son constantly
watched the History Channel. Todd Hoffner taught Steven Szwydek in seventh
and eighth grade and as a junior and senior at Southern Fulton High School,
Warfordsburg, where he graduated in 2003.

Hoffner described him as a walking wealth of
information when it came to history of the military.

“Any time someone would ask me a question relating
to the military or wars, I’d refer them to Steven. He did have a vast amount
of knowledge,” Hoffner said.

As graduation approached, Steven Szwydek was
still determined to become a Marine. However, his parents urged him to
look at the other branches to see what they had to offer. Nancy Szwydek
recalled listening to some of the benefits and enticements that recruiting
officers were offering, then going back to the Marines recruiter.

“I asked him what he had to offer and he said,
‘He either wants to be a Marine or he doesn’t,” she said.

He wanted to be a Marine, so much that he attempted
to return to Iraq early after his first tour. Szwydek returned to the United
States in October last year after seven months in the Gulf. In January
2005 he volunteered to go back early, but eventually had to wait for a
second deployment in July.

Szwydek's sister, Stephanie Bard, said her
brother, who was single, was looking to take the place of a soldier who
had a family back home.

“He didn’t become a Marine to just sit around
a base,” Nancy Szwydek said.

Szwydek was proficient not only with history
but also with a firearm. He was qualified as an expert when he was tested
for sharpshooting and, according to his father, hit a bull’s-eye nine out
of 10 times from 500 yards.

“He always said that ‘A Marine never misses,”
Bard said.

Although he joined what is considered the toughest
branch of the military, Szwydek is remembered as being a kind person who
was generally concerned about people. Wallace Szwydek, Steven's father,
said he always had time for people, especially children. Bard recalled
bringing her brother to speak to her class of fifth-graders while he was
on leave.

“He had their attention more than we could
have ever had their attention,” Bard said.

The family received word of their son’s death
after closing up their family's convenience store in Warfordsburg Thursday
evening when two Marines arrived at their home. The Marines have been with
the family ever since and will remain there until they’re no longer needed.

“They have been here almost nonstop every day,”
Bard said.

The family has also received support from the
families of other Marines in the area in addition to the Marine Corps League,
which has made travel arrangements so Szwydek's older brother in Oklahoma
can attend the funeral.

“They have been such a tremendous help to us.
I’m sure that we’ll have a long-lasting relationship with them,” Nancy
Szwydek said.

Visitation will be in the Needmore Bible Church
Thursday from 2 to 9 p.m. and Friday from 10 to 11 a.m. Funeral services
will be at 11 a.m. Friday in the church. Szwydek will be buried in Arlington
(Virginia) National Cemetery in a private ceremony.

The family asks that donations in lieu of flowers
be made to Fallen Heroes Fund of the Marine Corps League. Donations can
be made to Nancy and Wallace Szwydek in care of the Warfordsburg branch
of the Fulton County National Bank, 7781 Waterfall Rd., Hustontown, Pennsylvania
17229.

“He didn’t have to be a Marine, but he wanted
to be a Marine,” Hoffner said.
A Virginia-born Marine who was killed in Iraq told
his parents when he was 5 that he wanted to join the Marines, family members
said Sunday.

Steven W. Szwydek left for boot camp four days
after he graduated high school.

Thursday, the 20-year-old Marine lance corporal
on his second tour of duty in Iraq was killed by a roadside bomb during
combat, according to the Department of Defense.

Friends and relatives of Szwydek gathered Sunday
at his home in this Fulton County town to remember him.

"We did try to talk him into -- very strongly
-- looking into other branches of the armed forces," said his father, Wallace
Szwydek.

Szwydek was serving with the 2nd Battalion,
2nd Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division, II Marine Expeditionary Force,
based in Camp Lejeune, North Carolina. He was killed with two other Marines
-- Lance Corporal Andrew David Russoli, 21, of Greensboro, North Carolina,
and Staff Serhgant Rick Pummill, 27, of Cincinnati -- near Nasser Wa Salaam,
25 miles west of Baghdad.

Szwydek was born in Portsmouth, Virginia, and
in 2003 graduated from Southern Fulton High School, where he played outfield
and catcher on the baseball team, managed the basketball team, sang in
the school choir and was chaplain for the Future Farmers of America chapter

"He was one of the nicest guys you ever knew,"
said friend Timothy Keebaugh. "He'd do anything to help you out. He was
a funny guy" who loved the outdoors.

Living about 50 miles from Gettysburg, he also
was a military history enthusiast and accumulated a military weapons collection
that included firearms dating back to World War I.

His younger brother, Corey, said Szwydek had
discussed leaving the Marines to attend college and then returning as an
officer.

25 October 2005:

Steven Szwydek seemed born to be a United States
Marine.

His mother, Nancy Szwydek said looking at pictures
of her son throughout his life is like watching an evolution from a young
boy with toy guns and camouflage pajamas to a young man with the real articles.

The 20-year-old Lance Corporal from Warfordsburg
died doing the only thing he ever wanted to do last week. Szwydek was killed
along with two other Marines by a roadside bomb during Thursday combat
in Iraq, according to the Department of Defense. He is the second Fulton
County man to die since combat began.

Szwydek was serving in the Weapons Company
Second Battalion, Second Marine Regimental Combat Team Eight, Second Marine
Division based out of Camp Lejeune, North Carolina. He was awarded the
Purple Heart for wounds received in battle as well as the Combat Action
Ribbon, the Iraqi Campaign Medal, the Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary
Medal and Service Medal, the Sea Service Deployment Ribbon and the National
Defense Service Medal.

Szwydek was remembered as a young man who was
fascinated with the military and history. Nancy Szwydek said her son constantly
watched the History Channel. Todd Hoffner taught Steven Szwydek in seventh
and eighth grade and as a junior and senior at Southern Fulton High School,
Warfordsburg, where he graduated in 2003.

Hoffner described him as a walking wealth of
information when it came to history of the military.

“Any time someone would ask me a question relating
to the military or wars, I’d refer them to Steven. He did have a vast amount
of knowledge,” Hoffner said.

As graduation approached, Steven Szwydek was
still determined to become a Marine. However, his parents urged him to
look at the other branches to see what they had to offer. Nancy Szwydek
recalled listening to some of the benefits and enticements that recruiting
officers were offering, then going back to the Marines recruiter.

“I asked him what he had to offer and he said,
‘He either wants to be a Marine or he doesn’t,” she said.

He wanted to be a Marine, so much that he attempted
to return to Iraq early after his first tour. Szwydek returned to the United
States in October last year after seven months in the Gulf. In January
2005 he volunteered to go back early, but eventually had to wait for a
second deployment in July.

Szwydek's sister, Stephanie Bard, said her
brother, who was single, was looking to take the place of a soldier who
had a family back home.

“He didn’t become a Marine to just sit around
a base,” Nancy Szwydek said.

Szwydek was proficient not only with history
but also with a firearm. He was qualified as an expert when he was tested
for sharpshooting and, according to his father, hit a bull’s-eye nine out
of 10 times from 500 yards.

“He always said that ‘A Marine never misses,”
Bard said.

Although he joined what is considered the toughest
branch of the military, Szwydek is remembered as being a kind person who
was generally concerned about people. Wallace Szwydek, Steven's father,
said he always had time for people, especially children. Bard recalled
bringing her brother to speak to her class of fifth-graders while he was
on leave.

“He had their attention more than we could
have ever had their attention,” Bard said.

The family received word of their son’s death
after closing up their family's convenience store in Warfordsburg Thursday
evening when two Marines arrived at their home. The Marines have been with
the family ever since and will remain there until they’re no longer needed.

“They have been here almost nonstop every day,”
Bard said.

The family has also received support from the
families of other Marines in the area in addition to the Marine Corps League,
which has made travel arrangements so Szwydek's older brother in Oklahoma
can attend the funeral.

“They have been such a tremendous help to us.
I’m sure that we’ll have a long-lasting relationship with them,” Nancy
Szwydek said.

Visitation will be in the Needmore Bible Church
Thursday from 2 to 9 p.m. and Friday from 10 to 11 a.m. Funeral services
will be at 11 a.m. Friday in the church. Szwydek will be buried in Arlington
(Va.) National Cemetery in a private ceremony.

The family asks that donations in lieu of flowers
be made to Fallen Heroes Fund of the Marine Corps League. Donations can
be made to Nancy and Wallace Szwydek in care of the Warfordsburg branch
of the Fulton County National Bank, 7781 Waterfall Rd., Hustontown, Pa.
17229.

“He didn’t have to be a Marine, but he wanted
to be a Marine,” Hoffner said.
Saturday October 29, 2005At least 400 pay respects to Marine

NEEDMORE, PENNSYLVANIA - Red, white and blue
bows fluttered on mailboxes for about six miles of U.S. 522 between Warfordsburg,
Pennsylvania, and Needmore Bible Church on Friday morning.

Hundreds of little American flags lined both
sides of the long curved drive leading up the hill to the church.

Szwydek, of Warfordsburg, Pennsylvania, was
killed in combat October 20, 2005, in Nasser Wa Salaam, Iraq. He was serving
his second tour in Iraq when he and two other Marines were killed by an
enemy explosive device.

Szwydek's body was in a flag-draped casket
in front of the church Friday morning. Behind the casket, the Rev. Doug
Poffenberger officiated the Marine's funeral service.

First Sergeant Dave Jobe said the Marines were
at the church "to honor a fallen Marine and support the family."

Jobe stood by Steven Szwydek's parents, Wallace
M. and Nancy Szwydek of Warfordsburg, while they and other family members
greeted the mourners who filed one-by-one by their small reception line
prior to the service.

Jobe provided reassurance to the family.

"We are OK," Jobe told Nancy Szwydek. "We got
lots of Marines here."

A photo of Szwydek wearing fatigues and in
a relaxed pose was on the counter near the reception line. The caption
with the photo said, "You must not judge a life by its length, but by its
depth."

Poffenberger opened the service by thanking
the Lord for blessing the nation "and those who so willingly have given
themselves to defend her."

Speaker after speaker, in their eulogies, spoke
of Szwydek's childhood; his love of military history, hunting and things
outdoors; his expertise with guns; achieving his goal of becoming a Marine
sniper; and his love of country, community and family.

Szwydek signed up for the Marines while he
was a senior at Southern Fulton Junior/Senior High School. He left for
boot camp four days after he graduated in June 2003. The war in Iraq was
in its fourth month by then.

The first to eulogize Szwydek was his uncle,
Stanley Szwydek.

"I tried to write some different things about
Steve, but I really didn't know what to say," he said.

He spoke of family history - how one side of
the family came from the western Virginia coal fields, while the other
side was a blue-collar family from Canonsburg, Pennsylvania.

"Some people are here today because they know
Mike (Wallace) and Nancy," Stanley Szwydek said. "Ninety-nine percent are
here because if ever they talked to Steve, he was your friend. That's just
the way Steve was."

Another uncle told of how when Szwydek returned
from his first tour in Iraq, the family held a welcome-home party for him.
He spent much of the time watching the news on television.

"While he was glad to be home, he felt he needed
to be back in Iraq with his buddies," the uncle said.

"When I close my eyes and see you, I see you
standing at attention watching over us," the uncle said of his Marine Corps
nephew.

When the service ended, the Marines who made
up the honor guard for the service marched down the aisle and out a side
door. Two Marines held the flag over the coffin as the quiet inside the
church was shattered by three volleys fired from the rifles of the Marines
outside.

A memorial fund that honors the dedication
and sacrifice of the men and women of the U.S. armed forces has been established
by a fallen Fulton County Marine’s parents, Mike and Nancy Szwydek.

Formed in January, the nonprofit Semper Fi
Memorial will provide money to the county’s three school districts to cover
the cost of taking high school students on annual field trips to Arlington
National Cemetery.

The Warfordsburg couple’s son, 20-year-old
Marine Lance Corporal Steven W. Szwydek, was killed in Iraq on October
20, 2005, when an improvised explosive device (IED) detonated while he
was driving the lead Humvee on combat operations near Nasser Wa Salaam.

Two other Marines with Szwydek also lost their
lifes.

Lance Corporal Szwydek was assigned to Weapons
Co., 2nd Battalion, Regimental Combat Team 8, 2nd Marine Division out of
Camp Lejeune, North Carolina. He was about half way through his second
tour of duty in Iraq at the time of his death.

The Szwydeks say that instead of setting up
a scholarship in their son’s name, they wanted to provide young people
with an experience that would teach them something about the reality of
war and the selflessness of those who serve their country.

Mike and Nancy hope that students will come
away from Arlington with a better understanding of freedom’s high price.
“Maybe gain a little respect for what our military does, our freedoms,
what we have in this country,” said Nancy on Friday as she paged through
a photo album highlighting her son’s military career at the village store
she and her husband own and operate in Dott.

The idea for the memorial fund took root following
Steven’s funeral service at Arlington. According to Nancy, as many as 60
FFA members representing all three county school chapters – Steven belonged
to Southern Fulton’s chapter – attended the service.

“We received so many comments from the students
about how they look at the flag differently and things like that,” Nancy
said.

Money donated to the Semper Fi Memorial will
be used exclusively for the cost of chartering buses and meal allowances.
The Szwydeks will assume all other memorial fund expenses, such as postage,
long distance phone calls and other administrative costs.

Nancy said that students could possibly visit
other places of interest in Washington, D.C., as part of the trip. That,
she said, along with who goes – juniors or seniors – is up to the schools.

On the bus ride to Arlington, Nancy said, a
DVD of her son’s memorial service in Iraq will be shown. “We realize that
down the road students will not know who Steven is, but they’ll be able
to see what it’s like to be part of a unit and what our military goes through.”

So far, Steven’s alma mater, Southern Fulton,
has said it wants its senior classes to take the trip. Nancy has spoken
with McConnellsburg High School principal Todd Beatty and expects that
his school will want to be included and, she said, she is waiting to hear
back from Forbes Road after contacting the high school by phone.

Nancy, her husband and two of their adult children
administer the memorial fund, which is able this year to only underwrite
the cost of Southern Fulton’s trip to Arlington in the spring.

“By next year I’m hoping to send all three
(schools),” Nancy said. “We want it to be a yearly thing, that’s why we’re
trying to get the word out a little bit about the memorial fund itself,
thinking that Fulton County people might be interested in donating to something
like that.”

Fundraising for the Semper Fi Memorial has
just begun. Over the next weeks, the Szwydeks plan to solicit donations
from churches, community organizations and individuals. Because it has
been given 501(c)3 status by the Internal Revenue Service, contributions
to the fund are tax deductible and should be made payable to The Semper
Fi Memorial, c/o Nancy Szwydek, 276 Mays Chapel Road, Warfordsburg, PA
17267.

Nancy also said that a February blood drive
at Warfordsburg Presbyterian Church Faith Center will be held in her son’s
honor. She hopes to place a memorial fund donation box there for contributions.

Weapons Co. is on its way home to Camp Lejeune
this week and the Szwydeks are leaving on Friday to be there for the troops
homecoming. “The guys have asked,” Nancy said. “We’ve gotten letters from
Iraq and they want us there.”

Nancy admits that the homecoming will be emotional
for her and the family, but said she thinks being there will be helpful.
“I think it will help us with some closure,” she said.

“You know, this community has helped us,” she
said. “This community has really been so supportive – the community, the
Marines, families. That helps us until we have our heads on straight ...
.”

Additional information about the Semper Fi
Memorial can be obtained by calling Nancy at 717-294-6774.

Bronze Memorial Pays Tribute To A Fallen Hero Statue dedicated to Lance Corporal Steven
Szwydek, others at Sunday service 12 July 2006By Lindsay R. MellottCourtesy of the Fulton County News

Hundreds gathered outside of Southern Fulton
high School in Sunday’s late afternoon heat for the unveiling of a bronze
statue that a determined Fulton County teenager wanted to erect in tribute
to fallen Warfordsburg Marine Lance Corporal Steven Szwydek.

Amazingly it took 13-year-old Jamie Bryner
just two months to raise more than the $4,000 needed to get the life-size
battlefield image that depicts a rifle barrel-down behind combat boots,
capped with a helmet and realize his dream.

So far, Jamie has raised $5,000 and says he
“is still counting.” Money raised in excess of the memorial’s cost will
be used for its ongoing care.

Jamie’s hope is that the statue honoring Lance
Corporal Szwydek and others like him who died in service to their country
will help keep their memory alive in a permanent way.

Lance Corporal Szwydek, a 2003 graduate of
Southern Fulton, was killed October 20, 2005, by an improvised explosive
device (IED) near Nasser Wa Salamm, just three months into his second deployment
to Iraq with Weapons Co., 2nd Battalion, Regimental Combat Team 8, 2nd
Marine Division out of Camp Lejeune, North Carolina.

Jamie, an eighth-grader at Szwydek’s alma mater,
didn’t know the lance corporal well, but like his fallen hero had, he has
wanted to be a Marine since he was a young boy. It was this lifelong passion
for the U.S. Marine Corps and a friendship that grew with the Szwydek family
from that passion that compelled him to find a way to acknowledge Steven
Szwydek’s ultimate sacrifice.

“He’s (Szwydek) in the soul of every one of
these Marines here today,” said Jamie.

Major Curtis L. Hill, public affairs officer,
2nd Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Lejeune, and Sunday’s master of ceremonies,
told the 600 people who attended the service held inside the school before
the memorial’s unveiling that Jamie has already shown the drive and tenactiy
needed in the Marine Corps.

“This young men had an idea to recognize our
fallen service members, determined the best way to do so, and saw it through
to completion,” said Hill, who grew up near Needmore and graduated from
Southern Fulton 20 years ago.

“I hope you know the impact you have had on
us and all the people in this auditorium,” Nancy Szwydek told Jamie, “and
how important it is that we never forget.” Her husband, Mike Szwydek, said,
“We’re here today to celebrate that fighting spirit.”

Ten Marines from Weapons Company, who served
with Lance Corporal Szwydek in Iraq, including company commander Major
Brandon Conway, sat in the front of the auditorium. They listened to remarks
made by senior officers Col. Robert Sembower, representing Governor Ed
Rendell, and Brigadier General James C. Walker, secretary to the commandant
of the Marine Corps.

General Walker said Sunday’s dedication service
was “an amazing show of support for Lance Corporal Szwydek, for the country,
for the Marine Corps, and for all that we stand for in America.”

Calling the memorial a reminder of “a man’s
life worth imitating,” Szwydek’s company chaplain in Iraq, Lieutenant Teddy
L. Williams, asked the audience to be always faithful “to the memory, to
the courage and to the faithfulness” of Lance Corporal Szwydek.

Jamie’s parents, Curtis and Diana Bryner, expressed
their gratitude to all who supported their son’s project. “The proud part
comes from being the father of a fine, young man,” said Curtis.

Many of the speakers’ comments were affirmed
by the Marines present, with enthusiastic “oorahs,” the Marine Corps’ traditional
cheer, throughout the two-hour long service.

Other special guests included Marine Corps
League detachments from Chambersburg, Hagerstown and Cumberland, the Patriot
Riders, a combat veteran motorcycle club, and Corporal Seamus Garrahy,
a veteran Marine who helped organize the service.

Vocal selections were performed by the St.
Patrick’s Chorale of Hagerstown, Maryland, and Crystal Spring resident
Alan Fischer and a Marine Corps brass quintet from Quantico, Va., played
patriotic instrumental pieces.

An impressive ceremonial helicopter flyby by
two Marine helicopters, a Huey gunship and a Cobra attack with Marine Light
Attack Helicopter Squadron 775, Detachment A, Johnstown, Pennsylvania,
concluded the dedication of the memorial.

As they left the high school following the
dedication, Belfast residents and Marine veteran Rich Mondelli said that
Jamie’s efforts had revitalized his faith in young people. Mondelli’s wife
said, “It’s heart-warming to know that young people can be so focused.”

Jamie plans to join the Marines through the
Corps’ delayed entry program as soon as he is old enough. He and his mother
are preparing care packages to send to Marines in Iraq and next summer,
he will attend a two-week Young Marine boot camp at Camp Lejeune.

Corey, the Szwydek’s 18-year-old son, leaves
for boot camp in August at Naval Station Great Lakes, Illinois, and will
eventually serve his country as part of the U.S. Navy Seabees.

Courtesy of the Herald-Mail.Com10 May 2008

If not for the 60 teenagers gathered around
it, the gravesite for Lance Corporal Steven Szwydek would not have stood
out from the thousands of others lined up with military precision and damp
from late spring showers on Friday afternoon.

To these students, however, this 42-inch by
13-inch stone at Arlington National Cemetery marked the final resting place
of a hometown hero who graduated from their high school just five years
ago.

Several Southern Fulton high schoolers commented
that being in the cemetery was overwhelming, something that the Marine’s
mother said she’s felt, too, now that the grave markers have become more
personal.

“If they were like me before, they would go
to Arlington and see the stones and not the people,” Nancy Szwydek said.

“The first time I went, I was really young
and didn’t understand. This time it was really personal,” said Crystal
Hughes, 18.

“It’s definitely different when you know the
name on a tombstone,” said Kristin Palmer, 17.

The Semper Fi Memorial Fund, started in memory
of Szwydek, paid for two buses that left the Warfordsburg, Pennsylvania,
school not long after sunrise. Each student was handed lunch money, also
an expenditure from the memorial fund.

Nancy Szwydek said paying for the meal on the
annual trips reminds her of her son, who was killed in October 2005 during
his second tour of duty in Iraq. Several Marines have told her how the
young man offered to take them to dinner when their spirits were in need
of a boost.

“His buddies said that Steven would give them
his last dime,” Nancy Szwydek said.

Comrades called Szwydek “the Marine’s Marine”
during his overseas memorial service, a video of which was played on the
buses.

The Semper Fi Memorial Fund pays for all Fulton
County, Pennsylvania, high school seniors to make the trip to Arlington
every year. It was the only field trip that the Southern Fulton seniors
had taken as a group this year.

Erikka Macon, 17, said she would tell the Szwydeks
that “I respect your son for serving our country. I really appreciate you
taking us to his grave because it’s worth it.”

“I’m very thankful that we were able to do
that to honor their son, who graduated from our school and was from this
community,” said 19-year-old Cody Dicken, a member of the Army Reserves.

Nancy Szwydek said the trip encompasses two
of her son’s strongest fascinations — history and the military.

“My son was an extreme patriot. He loved this
country. ... I think he’d like to give a history lesson to others,” Nancy
Szwydek said.

Many of the classmates hugged each other and
wiped away tears while at Szwydek’s grave. For Kristin, the tears were
connected to her brother’s role in the Army Reserves.

“He just left on Sunday to finish out his training
in California and go to Iraq,” Kristin said.

When they first arrived at Arlington, the teenagers
waited solemnly for a funeral to finish and a riderless horse to pass.
An average of 27 funerals are conducted daily at the national cemetery.

“I’m always surprised by the amount of funerals
that happen every day,” said Logan Fischer, 18.

“Just to see all the funerals going on, that
was really emotional,” said 18-year-old Anthony Wertz, who was on his first
trip to Arlington.

Shannon Kline, 18, went to the funeral for
Szwydek, who was serving with Weapons Co., 2nd Battalion, Regimental Combat
Team 8, 2nd Marine Division (also known as 2/2 Weapons Co.) when an improvised
explosive detonated near Nasser Wa Salaam and killed three.

Kline remembers the 21-gun salute, playing
of taps and the Marines who cared for the family. He found that Friday’s
trip to Arlington was more relaxed.

“It wasn’t as formal, but we paid the respects
that needed to be paid,” Shannon said.

Most members of the Class of 2008 did not know
the fallen Marine very well, but several remarked on what they perceive
to be his legacy.

It is to “drive forward on what you believe.
All through school he said he wanted to be a Marine,” Cody said.

Steven Szwydek made that decision at age 5,
according to his mother.

“He almost missed graduation to go to boot
camp a week earlier. He always felt the Marine Corps was the best, and
he wanted to be a part of the best,” Nancy Szwydek said.

“We feel very fortunate we had a son who knew
what he wanted to do and followed his dream. I believe in quality of life.
He sure did a lot with his 20 years,” she said.

Anthony summed up the Arlington experience
as “very moving and very powerful.”

“Some people have a tendency to tune it out,
but anywhere you go, you see the effects of the war,” Anthony said.

The mother of Lance Corporal Steven Szwydek
said she would like to expand the offerings currently provided by the Semper
Fi Memorial Fund. To contribute to that nonprofit fund, send checks payable
to the “Semper Fi Memorial Fund” in care of Nancy Szwydek, 276 Mays Chapel
Road, Warfordsburg, Pennsylvania 17267.

Angie
Booth, a teacher and family friend of slain Marine Lance Corporal StevenSzwydek,
places flowers on his grave as she leads students from SouthernFulton
High School in Warfordsburg, Pennsylvania, on a visit to his grave atArlington
National Cemetery, Thursday, May 24, 2007. A fewyears ago, Lance Corporal
Szwydek was a classmate of students at a high schoolin the mountains of Pennsylvania's
Fulton County. Now the fallen Marine is part of a history lesson as students
travel to the cemetery on a bus trip paid for by a memorial fund established
by Szwydek's parents.